My Bonsai garden

How many Bonsais do you think is plenty to look after for hobby while working

  • 0-50

    Votes: 49 76.6%
  • 50-100

    Votes: 9 14.1%
  • 100-150

    Votes: 2 3.1%
  • 150-200

    Votes: 4 6.3%

  • Total voters
    64
  • Poll closed .

Anthony

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Charles for what it is worth, 300

No winter and we use seeds, seedlings and collected from the roadside at around
8 cm high.
However please note that my brother-in-law has been at it for about 39 years and
I am about 29 years or so.

What we did during that time, went to school, went to work, built a small house,
raised africanised bees, built furniture, cast a good many concrete patios/ shapes etc.
Pottery as long as doing bonsai, and took up jewellery making.
Kept doing stuff.

Been doing the growing things bit so long that this is more like breathing.

Raised families and did their education bit, presently Brother-in-law is smoothing
over the edges on his nephew - Nick [ you will see him in images if you look
around ]

The key situation is we have never tried to make money from this hobby, stuff
is given away and when we did purchase abroad , nothing cost much.

We learnt to make the soil/puts/ grow plants and tools are 16.5 concave pruner,
a root pruner and a scissors.
Most of the other stuff is just made.
Bonsai remains a low or zero cost hobby.

When we find a local victim , we propagate up to 20 cuttings to experiment on.
As the knowledge is acquired, only 1 to 5 plants are kept and the rest given
to others to learn with.
Good Day
Anthony

*Please note if you work with zelkova types - fine branching, 1 or 2 or 3 plants
at 38 to 46 cm height or width is a limit.
You will die from eye strain.
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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Charles for what it is worth, 300

No winter and we use seeds, seedlings and collected from the roadside at around
8 cm high.
However please note that my brother-in-law has been at it for about 39 years and
I am about 29 years or so.

What we did during that time, went to school, went to work, built a small house,
raised africanised bees, built furniture, cast a good many concrete patios/ shapes etc.
Pottery as long as doing bonsai, and took up jewellery making.
Kept doing stuff.

Been doing the growing things bit so long that this is more like breathing.

Raised families and did their education bit, presently Brother-in-law is smoothing
over the edges on his nephew - Nick [ you will see him in images if you look
around ]

The key situation is we have never tried to make money from this hobby, stuff
is given away and when we did purchase abroad , nothing cost much.

We learnt to make the soil/puts/ grow plants and tools are 16.5 concave pruner,
a root pruner and a scissors.
Most of the other stuff is just made.
Bonsai remains a low or zero cost hobby.

When we find a local victim , we propagate up to 20 cuttings to experiment on.
As the knowledge is acquired, only 1 to 5 plants are kept and the rest given
to others to learn with.
Good Day
Anthony

*Please note if you work with zelkova types - fine branching, 1 or 2 or 3 plants
at 38 to 46 cm height or width is a limit.
You will die from eye strain.

Hi Anthony,
Many thanks for your comments. My initial purchase of the 10 zelkova was my thinking of having a 7 forest and 1-3 to try my hand at broom/informal upright. As I have many years to decide, lol, I will keep options open etc.
Hmm, so I have a small problem with the keeping busy as this start at Bonsai and keeping my home garden is my past times , and I don’t know how to not “burn out” etc.
In 4 years my 2 nd teenager will have finished school, and she be off doing her own thing. I guess my wife and I will make plans as what to do next after we have a quiet house. And only 20 odd years til retirement etc. I don’t think I could do what you’ve done and retire early, just don’t think I could find enough busy things apart from Bonsai, golf and other things not yet thought of.

Back to Bonsai stuff, I am planning on putting a large number of my trees in the ground for the next few years and my baby pines/conifers will get the colander and ground treatment to make it easier to keep a tidy rootball.
Any other suggestions you can think of I would find greatly informative. Also I am looking forward to tending to my trees in auto-pilot mode and not checking their leaves and soil every few hours.
Charles
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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Counted my collection last weekend - 72. Early in 2017 I moved and brought 22 trees with me, so clearly I have to slow down. Of the added 50, 15 were air layers, 12 were club raffle wins. So, 23 purchases, mostly trying to shift to shohin. I have no yard at the moment, just a patio so everything is in a pot, but mostly grow pots. Hopefully next year I'll start redistributing some of those air layers and raffle wins.

Hi Brian,
Thank you for adding your information to the mix. As everybody is different in what they want and totally different in their living arrangement and budget.
Can you tell me something about your air-layers please. I have done maybe 20 odd this Spring, with the majority in pots with “perlite and bark mix” and it has been 8 weeks and I am getting impatient lol.
What method are you using? Media versus spagnum moss? Pots vs plastic wrap.
Looking forward to your answers,
Charles
 
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Paulpash

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Asking this question is a bit like the soil debate - everyone has a mix that fits them. We cannot answer your question universally - some work part time, others 70+ hours a week, others away for a week at a time. Some of us are carers, others parents of a large demanding family in terms of time BUT there are some universal principles that you will undoubtedly discover :

Do what makes bonsai fun - by that I mean be ruthless of the time wasters lurking on your benches, the red haired step children with lots of faults but 'may have potential in 10 years' . Sell 10 wannabes on eBay or a boot fair & get something that you really want to work on.

Secondly, do stuff that's time smart. Organic feed that lasts for months, automatic watering systems (paired with good substrate), good species spread that doesn't require massive amounts of attention in a short period of time (eg 30 jbp or maples). All these simple steps will make things easier to maintain.

Lastly, knowledge. Invest in yourself. Get specific guidance from experienced folk. In that way you avoid some of the obvious pitfalls of the beginner: poor technique, cutting off key branches that will take you years to regrow, overworking trees, not executing a plan due to lack of patience, posting help! My tree is dying from xyz posts etc. All these mistakes sap time and at the end of it are they worth saving? You WILL make mistakes, kill trees etc but the quicker you upskill the less time it will take to get to you regularly producing quality trees.
 
Last edited:

BrianBay9

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Hi Brian,
Thank you for adding your information to the mix. As everybody is different in what they want and totally different in their living arrangement and budget.
Can you tell me something about your air-layers please. I have done maybe 20 odd this Spring, with the majority in pots with “perlite and bark mix” and it has been 8 weeks and I am getting impatient lol.
What method are you using? Media versus spagnum moss? Pots vs plastic wrap.
Looking forward to your answers,
Charles

I have done layers many ways. This year I've exclusively used sphagnum moss wrapped with clear plastic wrap, just for convenience. I've used the pot-with-bonsai-soil method and it works, but it's harder to set up in difficult locations on a tree. I've gotten root development sufficient for separation in as little as 4 weeks (Pyracantha), but more typically 8 - 10 weeks (elms, J maple, etc.). I think the time depends a lot on the amount of foliage above the layer (more is quicker), the age of the branch you're layering (younger is quicker), and some say the position on the tree (higher is quicker). I've not experimented with that last one. I also think it depends on your climate (warm weather is quicker). Hope that helps.

Cheers
Brian
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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Asking this question is a bit like the soil debate - everyone has a mix that fits them. We cannot answer your question universally - some work part time, others 70+ hours a week, others away for a week at a time. Some of us are carers, others parents of a large demanding family in terms of time BUT there are some universal principles that you will undoubtedly discover :

Do what makes bonsai fun - by that I mean be ruthless of the time wasters lurking on your benches, the red haired step children with lots of faults but 'may have potential in 10 years' . Sell 10 wannabes on eBay or a boot fair & get something that you really want to work on.

Secondly, do stuff that's time smart. Organic feed that lasts for months, automatic watering systems (paired with good substrate), good species spread that doesn't require massive amounts of attention in a short period of time (eg 30 jbp or maples). All these simple steps will make things easier to maintain.

Lastly, knowledge. Invest in yourself. Get specific guidance from experienced folk. In that way you avoid some of the obvious pitfalls of the beginner: poor technique, cutting off key branches that will take you years to regrow, overworking trees, not executing a plan due to lack of patience, posting help! My tree is dying from xyz posts etc. All these mistakes sap time and at the end of it are they worth saving? You WILL make mistakes, kill trees etc but the quicker you upskill the less time it will take to get to you regularly producing quality trees.

Hi Marie,
Many thanks for your observations. Yep, totally agree with everything you are saying.
I think my best asset is the fact I have 20 years to perfect the joy of Bonsai so when I do finally retire I might have a few more clues into what works and what doesn’t.
I think I have said this before on this thread, but being a grower for 20 years plus I find being ruthless to the sad “step-brother” a double edged sword. I understand the time and the investment in a poor tree, and opposite of that is the “tree-hugger” in me that can’t quite let go any of my babies lol.
I am sure tho as my tastes and styles change, it will be easier to sell off the trees that don’t fit.
Charles
 
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